"I want to hear them, Allen," she insisted; "I have a right to hear them."
Gorham was impressed by the girl's attitude. "She is right," he added. "Now, out with it, boy, and let us get to the bottom of things."
Then the pent-up thoughts which had been collecting during the past few months burst forth.
"You have made me do it, Mr. Gorham," the boy cried, passionately. "You would never have heard it from my lips except for that, but I can't stand it any longer. I have tried hard since we talked that last time to convince myself that I was wrong, but I can't do it. I know it's because I can't see things the right way, but, whatever the cause, the trouble is there. To me the Companies seems based on interests which are wholly selfish, and to be accomplishing good only because doing business on this basis brings extra dividends to its stockholders. It is growing bigger and more powerful and more irresistible, but with this increasing power there is also increasing danger; and I feel sure, Mr. Gorham, as I told you before, that some day the public will have to pay the price. When the dike breaks the flood is going to wipe out all the advantages which the people have received, and more too."
The boy paused for breath and waited, expecting to hear Gorham's stern reproaches, but none came. The amazed expression both on Eleanor's and Alice's faces, however, evidenced the heresy of his words.
"I suppose I am forfeiting all which this family means to me by my seeming disloyalty to you, Mr. Gorham; but I honestly feel that I am more loyal than if I played the hypocrite. I see you carrying on the business of this corporation surrounded by men whose only thought is of themselves, who accept your judgment simply because it puts dollars into their pockets, who permit you to exercise your ideals only because they know that it means profit to them. Yet you have been consistent, you have been straightforward, you have lived up to the standards which you have taught me to expect. But can't you see, Mr. Gorham"--the boy held out both arms supplicatingly--"can't you see that there isn't a single man in that great organization who feels as you do? Can't you see that even Senator Kenmore is thinking only of himself?"